Monday, June 4, 2018

Spotify ponders becoming a mobile service provider | UNLIMITED | CMU

Spotify seems to be pondering a move into becoming a mobile service provider of sorts. A reported survey in its mobile app recently posed a question about a hypothetic Spotify mobile phone account.

Android Police reports a user being asked: “Imagine that Spotify offered a mobile-only data plan (ie without normal voice calls and text) for $30 a month, which included unlimited 4G data as well as a subscription to Spotify premium. How likely would you be to switch from your current mobile phone plan to this Spotify data-only plan?”

Like all streaming services, Spotify has done deals with various mobile providers around the world to bundle its service with their accounts. For many streaming firms, bundle deals of that kind have played a crucial role in their growth.

Quite how the Spotify mobile plan referenced in the survey would compare to that isn’t clear – ie would it be the same kind of package but branded differently or would it be something new? Either way, going that route, presumably in partnership with an existing tel co, might be more profitable for the streaming firm than the classic streaming/mobile bundle deal.